Fundamentals of applying for health insurance in India

Fundamentals of applying for health insurance

Suppose you made a medical insurance online application for yourself. You used a popular medical health insurance app for the same. You are shocked to know the extra premium you paid for the same coverage your friends have. 

What can be the cause of this surprise? Suppose you are unaware of the nitty-gritty of applying for health insurance in India. In that case, you are in for a shocker. This is because you might miss some important aspect of health insurance that might either be in your favour or you need to be cautious about. 

Let’s look at medical insurance application fundamentals, one by one:

Eligibility

To know whether you are eligible to apply for health insurance, let us look at the standard criteria for the same. 

Here are the conditions:

  • Adults between 18 to 65 years of age and dependent children between 90 days to 25 years of age are eligible to apply for medical insurance in India. However, applicants above 65 years of age can also apply for health insurance under specific plans.
  • If you are above 45 years of age, you need to undergo specific medical tests to check your eligibility. This is called pre-medical screening. If you are not requested to undergo medical tests, you might be asked to submit a written disclosure regarding pre-existing conditions. 

Cost for Optimum Coverage

While you apply for medical insurance online, you also need to look at the cost you need to pay for optimum coverage. But what is optimum coverage, you may ask. 

Technically, the optimum level of coverage differs from person to person. 

What is Optimum Coverage?

We discussed above how the definition of optimality differs from person to person. Similarly, the cost for attaining this optimality also depends on the add-ons or health insurance buying you choose. 

Finding the Best Health Insurance 

Now, you have figured out the optimal coverage health cover permutation and combination. So, the next step would be to find your ideal insurance provider. 

Here’s how you can do that.

Answer these questions while you compare plans:

1. What’s covered and what’s the cost for coverage? 

One of the most important points for comparison can be the coverage aspects of the plan and the premium you will have to pay. This aspect of health insurance plans should be covered in combination. For example, if a plan has a lower premium but has not covered your expected hospitalisation expenses, you won’t be adequately covered. This also works the other way.

2. Are there any additional benefits or conveniences available?

You can compare daily allowances, riders, and health monitoring benefits of similar plans by various insurance providers. 

In terms of daily allowances, you can use the additionally available allowance to purchase medicines and other similar allied medical expenses. Similarly, picking a suitable rider for your policy can help you cover additional uncertainties like accidents or critical illness treatments in future. 

Health insurance plans also offer health monitoring benefits like complimentary doctor’s and nutritionist’s consultations, medical check-ups. You can look for these too while comparing policies.

3. What are the exclusions and waiting period?

Every health insurance plan has a declared set of exclusions to coverage. Check these details before you buy health insurance online to ensure smooth and hassle-free claim settlement. 

Furthermore, it is also vital to check the waiting period for pre-existing conditions. Your hospitalisation expenses for these will be only covered after your waiting period. 

4. What is the renewal period? 

Health insurance plans have a renewal age limit. You can check them while comparing for timely renewals. 

Once you have checked all these details, you are all set to apply for medical insurance. Be aware of applying for health insurance in India to make an informed health insurance decision for you and your family.

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